Half of all criminals re-offend withn a year

Nearly half of all criminals released from jail reoffended within a year of
being let out, figures have disclosed.

By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent

3:05AM BST 05 Sep 2008

Nearly half of all criminals released from jail reoffended within a year of being let out, figures have disclosed.

The number of crimes committed by serial offenders who have just left prison or begun a community punishment has risen to more than half a million a year, according to data from the Ministry of Justice.

Almost four out of 10 adults and juveniles are convicted of another crime within 12 months. The proportion of re-offending juvenile criminals rose year-on-year, despite the Government target of cutting numbers by five per cent from 2000 to 2006.

The figures showed that the longer offenders spent in custody, the less likely they were to re-offend.

By contrast, the number of severe new offences by those receiving community sentences rose by 21 per cent. The crimes include an estimated 92,384 cases of violence; 3,392 serious assaults; 8,404 robberies; 46,300 burglaries and 137,320 thefts.

Nick Herbert, the shadow justice secretary, said: “The Government is forcing courts to issue more community sentences because it has failed to build adequate prison capacity. However, community sentences are not robust and they are not stopping prolific criminals going on to commit serious offences.”

Yesterday one of Britain’s most senior police officers said that confidence in the criminal justice system had been undermined by a prison crisis.

Mike Fuller, the chief constable of Kent police, said criminals were avoiding jail or being freed early due to a shortage of prison places, which he claimed ministers should have foreseen five years ago.

The Ministry of Justice figures tracked the 51,157 adults and 48,938 juveniles who were released from jail or began community punishments in the first three months of 2006.

Among adults, 39 per cent were reconvicted of another crime within 12 months, slightly down on 2005, while among juveniles the rate rose slightly to 38.7 per cent.

With many criminals being caught several times, there were 146 offences for every 100 adults in the group, and 123 crimes per 100 juveniles.

That equates to a total of almost 540,000 crimes committed over 12 months – up 3.3 per cent on the previous year.

David Hanson, the justice minister, said: “We have made considerable progress in protecting the public by reducing re-offending but there is more work to be done.”